go ahead, wildcat fans...

I thought it was time. I thought we were due. I really did. After all, it's the 10-year anniversary of our NCAA title (gulp... that means it's the 10-year anniversary of my college graduation!), so for the first time I completed an NCAA tournament bracket, and I picked my alma mater to go all the way.

Yes, I can't deny it... I picked Arizona to win it all.

Of course, if I was a true basketball fan, I would have known the team better. But other than Lute Olsen, I didn't know the team at all... heck, I couldn't even name a single player on the '97 championship team (I'll guess someone was named Stodemyre... or maybe Bibby?), let alone this year. And yet I still call myself a fan... after all, I still have the "W-I-L-D CATS" song on cassette from the team's first Final Four trip in '88, and I can name all of those starters (anyone remember Matt Muehlebach? I have his autograph! And Sean Elliot autographed my basketball... I wonder how much that could get on eBay these days... anyway...). So even though I never bought one single piece of college "go team!" paraphernalia while I attended the UofA, I thought I was entitled to declare myself a fan this year. I mean, I even saved a '97 NCAA Tournament Coca-Cola can featuring our winning score against the Kentucky Wildcats! Surely I wouldn't jinx the team by declaring myself a fan this late in the game, right?

I even bought a cubicle-wall basketball hoop for my desk featuring the Wildcats logo, and faced the derision of many more-basketball-knowledgeable coworkers who've walked past my desk and tried to make a shot in my hoop (at least I sit within dunking range...).

But alas, my bracket is now completely shot, because Arizona lost in the first round this weekend. Figures. I put the jinx on them. I have that affect on teams, I guess...

At least now I can stop pretending I'm a basketball fan and focus all my energies on a real sport... BASEBALL! Speaking of which, it's time to tune in to the D'Backs spring training game today (thank the Lord for MLB.TV).

So go ahead, all you real Arizona fans... blame me. I can take it.